The day Ben Stokes changed Test batting forever

"Everything was coming out of the middle of the bat and the stadium was one big party."

It is widely acknowledged that Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is one of the most beautiful in the world. With Table Mountain looming over, spectators, and sometimes players, might stop looking at the pitch for a moment as they admire its sharp ridges against the rich blue sky.

But during the 2nd Test of England's 2015/16 tour, crowds and players were looking to the skies for a very different reason.

Rather than admiring cloudless blue skies, spectators were roaring with approval and then quickly ducking for cover as Ben Stokes launched yet another six into the stands.

The Durham all-rounder put on one of the most destructive batting displays the game has ever seen, dispatching a South African bowling attack that included Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris to every corner of the ground.

The Cricketer spoke to Henry Kirchner from Barmy Travel to find out what it was like to witness such a memorable innings.

"The innings started off fairly humbly, particularly as his first job upon arrival at the crease was to deny Rabada a hat-trick."

Stokes was careful initially, hitting only one four in his first 24 balls. But he then began to find his rhythm as Dane Piedt's off-breaks allowed Stokes to free his arms and up the tempo.

"From there the innings escalated into phenomenal striking. The whole atmosphere changed, all of a sudden it was a party in the stadium. As we were watching we knew the ball could be hurtling towards us at any time," said Kirchner.

Stokes ended day one on 74, having smashed 32 from the final three overs of the day. And day two was only three overs old when the allrounder brought up his hundred.

^{Some images courtesy of Getty Images}

"What was happening was unbelievable, Stokes was playing T20 cricket in a Test match, to many of our tour party this was completely unheard of. A lot of people had never seen a Test innings like this on TV let alone in person.

"I have never seen so much excitement and energy build so quickly."

At this point Stokes was in full flow. It took him only 58 balls to go from 100 to 200, making it the fastest-ever Test double-century by an Englishman. Other records to be shattered were the most sixes (a grand total of 11!) in an innings by an England batsman as well as the partnership between Stokes and Jonny Bairstow reached 300 faster than any other in Test history.

"Everything was coming out of the middle of the bat and the stadium was one big party.

"When he was eventually out everyone was shocked. It was a freak wicket [AB De Villiers dropped Stokes initially but then ran him out], however the ovation he received proved that everybody realised they had witnessed a very special, unique innings.

"There wasn't any disappointment, just elation and applauding what had been a once-in-a-lifetime, spectacular innings. People were on their feet. Regardless of who you were supporting, everybody appreciated what we had just witnessed."

The Barmy Travel party were, without doubt, treated to one of the greatest days of English cricket. The 453 runs scored on day two were the most ever scored in a day of Test cricket in South Africa, while the crowd were also fortunate enough to witness an emotional maiden Test hundred from Bairstow.

"When we got back to the hotel bar Stokes' innings was all we talked about. It was the Ben Stokes show. Everybody was on cloud nine remembering all his shots, the clean hitting and just how he was manipulating the bowling attack to do whatever he wanted them to do.

"We all celebrated together what had been an incredible day of cricket and the beers certainly tasted that bit sweeter for it." 

To find out more about Barmy Travel's South Africa tour packages, visit www.barmytravel.com or call 0203 907 2222